Our politicians can learn from Hispanics

October 18, 2007|By John R. Smith

Conservative politics is the natural home for the Hispanic voter in Palm Beach County.

Although many Hispanics have traditionally gravitated toward liberal political groups, there are many other Hispanics who are conservative in their personal lives and beliefs. While some may nest in other political territory, careful pondering reveals it's not in their best interest to stay there. Like many others, local Hispanics will come to realize they are more closely aligned in their beliefs to conservative politics than they are to liberal rhetoric.

The National Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey done in2000, concluded, "Latinos [who are not yet] registered to vote are significantly more conservative than both voting Latinos and the population at large." In a 2006 poll quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Hispanics in America "viewed themselves as slightly to the right of the country as a whole." This indicates that the growing Latino population embraces conservative beliefs more than liberal beliefs.

Hispanics, as a group, are less liberal than other large minority groups. In the National Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, only 10 percent of Hispanics described themselves as "very liberal." That's less than many other minority groups. Hispanics also tend to take a hard-line stance on national security, another conservative bastion.

For many Hispanics who move to South Florida and become citizens, this is their "shining city on a hill." And the conservative emphasis on family, values and convention is highly attractive to them. Hispanic voters often are conservative on some social issues, perhaps because they are predominantly Catholic. Further, they tend to be pro-military, and that's reflected in a large number of Hispanic servicemen and women. Many Hispanic immigrants are entrepreneurs, and therefore sympathetic to the concerns of small business and less sympathetic to liberal demands for regulations they find cumbersome.

All these traits point to conservative beliefs. Latino immigrants in this county who lean to the left often come from socialist/communist countries, where they are accustomed to government playing a dominant role in society and where class warfare prevails. At the same time, some Hispanics who come from such countries are not leftists because that is what they were trying to get away from in their home country. They appreciate capitalism as an alternative to societies that function poorly.

Compared to others, Hispanics seem to have a highly developed appreciation for the opportunities available here for people who show the initiative to seize them. The rest of us either take these opportunities for granted, or we fail to prepare ourselves to be in position to take advantage of them. Often, we cannot appreciate what we have until it is taken away.

But most Hispanics who immigrate here have a keen sense of the American Dream when they set foot on local soil. They view this as a place where hard work and true grit will pay off in a better life for them and their families. This brand of self-reliance is at the core of conservative beliefs.

Overwhelmingly, these are new, enterprising citizens who aren't looking for handouts from government. Generally, such Hispanics become voters who don't "think entitlement,: and who don't consider government to be a gravy train that makes perpetual stops at their station. Politicians take note.

We need to welcome as many of these folks with these traits as we can, because that's how America was built.

John R. Smith is chairman of Palm Beach County's BizPac and owner of a financial services company.